Lebanon spends US$5.5 million on electricity sector

Published August 7th, 2011 - 05:51 GMT

The Lebanese Minister of Energy, Jibran Basil, announced that the Lebanese Treasury spends USD 5 million every day on its electricity sector.

The Lebanese Minister of Energy, Jibran Basil, announced that the Lebanese Treasury spends USD 5 million every day on its electricity sector. That works out to $3,600 every second for electricity. The government is willing to pay the bill because, although high, it will provide for the people's needs.

Basil said, "In the next couple of days the parliamentary session will approve a decision relating to electricity credits". The government committed to an electricity policy drafted by Basil under the previous government, which will cost $4.8 billion over more than 5 years. Due to the increasing pressure of costs caused by the dilapidated sector, we "must exploit every moment to speed up work as the projects become ready. We just need the necessary funds to be reserved for implementation". Basil explained in the meeting in parliament, "An agreement took place on the matter, the government is commited to an electricity strategy, and has approved the credits that will be issued".

As for the stir caused when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asked Lebanon to award its oil contracts to Russian companies, Basil said after the meeting that was held in the Grand Serail that, "this news is not true, as this is a purely Lebanese affair that is being discussed in Lebanon, and no one else. Anyway, the oil issue didn't come up".

There are indications that that the current electricity situation promises more rationing in the month of Ramadan. At present, electricity is rationed to 8-10 hours a day and less in areas where electricity is wasted because of faults. According to statistics, the volume of energy currently produced and imported intermittently from Egypt and Syria is around 1500 megawatts, whilst demand requires more than 2550 megawatts. That is without taking Ramadan into account. (Source: www.yallafinance.com[1])